Monday, April 04, 2016

During a Reddit Ask Me Anything, hunky Johnathon Schaech confirmed what was completely obvious widely speculated back in the day -- he was Ellen DeGeneres' beard.

Schaech, 46, and the Emmy-winning daytime talk show host, 58, were photographed on several occasions together in the mid-'90s before DeGeneres officially came out in 1997, and later married Portia De Rossi in 2008.

"My manager asked me to accompany her to events. She was scared people would not watch the show, her sitcom Ellen, because she was gay. It was an honor," Schaech explained during his AMA. "I grew up with two gay aunts and a gay uncle. My aunt died of cancer. She was a proud woman and she didn’t get proper care because she didn’t want to be away from her partner. Hospitals didn’t allow partners the same rights as a spouse. When you have someone you love in your life that is gay or a lesbian it’s very clear that they deserve the same rights as anyone else. It's not about religion," he continued. "If you don’t love Ellen now — you don’t watch her show. She’s a great example for the human race."

Schaech, who was married to Christina Applegate from 2001-07 and drove me wild in "How to Make an American Quilt," and DeGeneres walked arm in arm posing for red carpet photos together at the 1995 Screen Actors Guild Awards. Two years later, she came out in a historic Time cover story. That same year, her sitcom character, "Ellen Morgan," also came out.

"I was [supposed] to perform in her coming out episode but I ran the marathon and couldn't walk the next day, the network fired me cause they thought I was lame," Schaech added. "I was lame, DONT RUN A MARATHON when your [sic] given a great gift."

And you thought Ellen and Bill Pullman made an improbably couple in "Mr. Wrong"!

I always think it's funny when people don't believe this stuff goes on in Hollywood